what did you wrench on today??

[bobthebiker88]

I started once again modding a set of YZF600R headers to fit my XJ600, which is going well.

[cowboyup3371]

Well, although I was home sick today I can't sit around. So I painted the air box and footpeg mounts and terminated some wires. I hope to put the air box in place in a week or so after I fix a thread.

[Baatfam]

Got back to the BMW forks this week...all torn down and cleaned.
Hope to get them back together today...new seals, bushings, springs and gaiters....

[850 Combat]

I lubed the suspension on my new to me 20 year old snow mobile, and filled the transfer case oil. Later, I put 50 miles on it on the trails State of Maine snow mobile trail system. Its pretty cool.

As to work, my boss notified me Thursday that we lost our contract, so I have none. I'm glad my house is paid for.

[themess]

Removed exhaust flange bolts. Sprayed with PB Blaster daily, tapped the head with a hammer. Used a torque wrench set at 10 ft-lbs. 6 came off at that. More PBB more tapping. Torque wrench at 15#, More tapping, more PBB. The 7th one came off yesterday. More PBB, more tapping. 8th one began to loosen at 20#. Turn it clockwise one click, CCW one click. Blast and repeat. Got loose enough to reduce torque to 15#. Go 5 clicks CCW, 4 clicks CW, blast and repeat. Still twisted the bloody thing off.

So I need to drill pilot holes and use an extractor. Who sells good, left hand twist drills. I figure to need several small ones.

(Reason for doing this now was to avoid having down-time when the weather gets warm. PO should't have been permitted in the same room with bottle opener, let alone a motorcycle. I would have been amazed if all had come out intact.)

[Texas Don]

Cleaned the shop yesterday. Getting ready for family to visit today. They will be here all week so I will be spending plenty of time in the shop. I hate my job too but I've been doing it for 32+ years and yes, I'm thankful that I have a job still. That part about having the house paid for is applicable here so I'm comforted by that. Actually, everything is paid off. But my wife is terminal with breast cancer, so I'm going to be working as long as it takes to provide her with health coverage and keep her comfy. I like working on the bikes more than riding actually. It's the only therapy that I've found that lets me keep my head on straight. I've never cared for booze and I quit smoking over 20 years ago. But bikes? I love working on them.
Don

[bonanzadave]

I'm going to be working as long as it takes to provide her with health coverage and keep her comfy.

Don,

I salute your positive attitude. Im traveling that road although my wife's BC is in remission. Its been a long couple years with multiple surgery's plus shes been outa work for a year. I wish you and your family all the best.

Back to wrenching....Im gonna grease up the snowblower...

[Steve314159]

Bolt extraction to TheMess

TheMess,

Don't use easy-outs or screw extractors. Left hand drill bits are nice but not required. Here's what you need to do: Get a small, good quality drill bit, maybe 3/32 or so and drill a hole down the center of the old bolt. The trick is to figure out exactly where the center is and which way is straight. Drill down to the depth you already know because you removed some bolts successfully. Carefully increase the size of the drill bit, making the hole a little bigger each time, until you get to the point that you might be or are removing aluminum. At this point I used pliers, picks, sharp objects to remove most of the old bolt. Then I used a tap and cutting oil and more tweezer type tools to get the old bolt out. The only problem I had was going too quickly on the third or fourth one and drilling way off center. Good Luck.

[Steve]

Tonight's fun was starting to dismantle the carbs and endeavour to work out what shims I needed... I think I have an idea now.

Also discovered my micrometer is imperial, but has metric instructions, which explains so much weirdness with it...

That should be easy, if you still have the spreadsheet I sent you back in April, 2010.

If not, let me know, I'll send you another.

And, ... my spreasheet does not care whether you use Imperial or metric measurements.

.

[Hoosier Daddy]

TheMess,

Don't use easy-outs or screw extractors. Left hand drill bits are nice but not required. Here's what you need to do: Get a small, good quality drill bit, maybe 3/32 or so and drill a hole down the center of the old bolt. The trick is to figure out exactly where the center is and which way is straight. Drill down to the depth you already know because you removed some bolts successfully. Carefully increase the size of the drill bit, making the hole a little bigger each time, until you get to the point that you might be or are removing aluminum. At this point I used pliers, picks, sharp objects to remove most of the old bolt. Then I used a tap and cutting oil and more tweezer type tools to get the old bolt out. The only problem I had was going too quickly on the third or fourth one and drilling way off center. Good Luck.

If you got this route, center punch the broken bolt first to keep the drill bit from "walking". If you have a Dremel , use the smallest ball nosed burr that came with it to divot the center of the broken bolt.
The only way you get good at this is by breaking too many bolts!

[cowboyup3371]

About the only thing I was able to wrench on today as the sitting waiting for DMV to give me a new title and tag on my horse trailer...Yea, it's finally legal again

[mike-s]

All i did today was take the head studs off the 250 as well as the pistons in anticipation of their replacement. The new studs are still at the shop as I've not had a chance to go get them and the new barrel/pistons are still somewhere in between Wisconsin and Sydney, Australia (where i am).

It's not a lot, but it's satisfying doing it. Am also glad i still have some Loctite freeze & release from the last set of studs i removed. This stuff basically works by the lubricant inside the can taking the chill from the propellant expansion (about -10'F/-43'C) and transferring it to the nut/bolt your trying to loosen. Does a fantastic job & gave me a nice little edge with undoing the snapped stud (i couldn't use the two nuts locked against each other technique to remove it & had to use that to loosen it enough for the vice-grips to be able to be brought out).

[pete]

That should be easy, if you still have the spreadsheet I sent you back in April, 2010.

If not, let me know, I'll send you another.

And, ... my spreasheet does not care whether you use Imperial or metric measurements.

.

All good now thanks Steve! My lack of a baseline is the problem at the moment, so this work now with the rebuild is setting my baseline.

Got the third valve sorted tonight, but I'm going to need one or two sizes smaller for the last one, so more shims required... sheeesh.

Continued dismantling the carbs tonight too.

[Baatfam]

Got the K1100's forks back together last night...there is a bit of trickyness compared to the GS forks...
But back on the bike today...still need to go pick up some oil...

[themess]

TheMess,

Don't use easy-outs or screw extractors. Left hand drill bits are nice but not required. Here's what you need to do: Get a small, good quality drill bit, maybe 3/32 or so and drill a hole down the center of the old bolt. The trick is to figure out exactly where the center is and which way is straight. Drill down to the depth you already know because you removed some bolts successfully. Carefully increase the size of the drill bit, making the hole a little bigger each time, until you get to the point that you might be or are removing aluminum. At this point I used pliers, picks, sharp objects to remove most of the old bolt. Then I used a tap and cutting oil and more tweezer type tools to get the old bolt out. The only problem I had was going too quickly on the third or fourth one and drilling way off center. Good Luck.

The exhaust system is still on the bike, and will be until I'm ready to start drilling. The length of the stub indicates that the bolt broke competely inside the cylinder head, so using pliers is not an option. The one hopeful factor is that the broken surface is very flat and smooth, so center-punching should actually be in the center or very close. My experience with drilling bolts out is quite limited, but successful. A couple of times, when the center hole has been enlargd enough, the bolt breaks loose, from a combination of heat, vibration, and reduced tension. It this doesn't work, I'll have to pull the head and take it to a machine shop. I'd really like to avoid that.